CHAPTER
5: The “End of a Beginning” and the Beginning of the Future
By providing a
case for establishing a societal approach to maximizing the personal potential
of the nation’s citizenry for national prosperity—beginning with changing
the way we think about and address poverty—along with a theoretical construct
and initial strategies, this document marks the end of a beginning. Every
innovation begins with a few people getting an initial construct down on paper;
to actually begin the work of bringing the idea to reality is up to a larger
group of people. In the case of establishing a new way of thinking about and
addressing poverty, the work of bringing this innovation to fruition will take
many people—over a long period of time—from every sector of society. This
document provides no ‘answers’ because the answers will only come from the
dialog it is intended to generate.
Having completed
the relatively easy task of putting a conceptual stake in the ground, it is now
time to begin the difficult work of starting a national dialog about the
possibility of building a new future built upon it. Can it really be done? Do we
care enough about each other as a nation of individuals and about the nation as
collective whole to take on such a complex task? We will never know if we
don’t first start the dialog.
Determining
where to start the dialog is both difficult and irrelevant; difficult because
the issue of poverty and capacity building is so complex, irrelevant because
there is no “right” place to start. The same complexity that makes starting
the dialog so difficult also provides many viable starting points. In the spirit
of starting, we might all consider the following questions:
 | How
could you or your sector create new markets, services, and/or products that
would help reduce the number of people living impoverished lives?
|
| What
products or services does your organization or sector create that can be
“re-visioned” or “re-tooled” to provide greater access to those
currently living impoverished lives?
|
| What
small changes in operations, service delivery/product development could be
made in your organization or sector to reduce the number of people living
impoverished lives?
|
| What
changes in your organization or sector’s overall direction can be made to
align with the principles of the theoretical construct?
|
| What
partners do your organization or sector work with who could influence change
that would help reduce the number of people living impoverished lives?
|
| What
policies do your organization or sector have influence on or control over
that could reduce the number of people living impoverished lives?
|
| What
policies in your organization or sector create disempowering or challenging
conditions for those living impoverished lives?
|
| What
policies in your organization or sector work at cross-purposes with other
sectors to create disempowering or challenging conditions for those who are
living impoverished lives?
|
| What
policies in your organization or sector make it difficult for those living
impoverished lives to begin to change their circumstances for the better?
|
| How
can we leverage our collective resources to work toward the vision together?
|
The extent to
which this document serves as a catalyst for dialog and change remains to be
seen. If its message resonates with enough people from enough sectors of society
to create a sense of urgency, momentum will be started. If broader dialog and
small changes begin to occur, momentum will be gained. If momentum is gained and
sustained, the vision set forth in this document will be realized and we will
live in a nation that, because each individual is reaching his or her full
potential, is even more innovative, prosperous, and secure than ever before.
Chapter
1 Chapter
2 Chapter
3 Chapter
4 Chapter 5
Appendix A (21st Century Model to Address Poverty)
Appendix B (Poverty
Programs Summary and Matrix)
Appendix C
(Issue Papers)
Appendix C1 (Initiative
context presentation: Characteristics of Successful Change)
Appendix
D (Income and Work Support Policies and
Strategies)
Appendix D1
(Working Session Descriptions)
Appendix D2
(Working Session Descriptions, continued)
Appendix E (Working
Session Descriptions, continued)
Appendix E1
Appendix E2
(Current state presentation: Highlights from the research)
Appendix F (Participant
List)
Appendix G
(Project Staff List)
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